Rastrelli Crushes Warsaw’s 1600m Record At State Track Meet
June 4, 2023 at 10:06 p.m.
Rastrelli Crushes Warsaw’s 1600m Record At State Track Meet
By Chip Davenport-
The girls’ meet, held Saturday at the unpretentiously-named Indiana University Track and Field Facility, featured other area female athletes who scored and placed in the top eight positions.
The boys’ meet, held Friday, also featured area participants, but none were able to earn a spot on the platform.
Each meet’s field was competitive with some regionals advancing almost all their finishers in certain events to the state meet because of the 3 Participant Standard IHSAA rule, where a determined time, length, or height is set to qualify competitors.
This standard helps athletes who are cannibalized in deep, highly competitive regional fields - especially in the greater Indianapolis metropolitan area – from being left out of elite competition limited to the top three automatic qualifying positions.
The depth of competition resulted on a handful of new state meet records once the final starter’s pistol was fired Saturday.
Girls’ records were set in the pole vault (Kailee Swart, Cathedral, 13-06.2), the 110-meter hurdles (Rachel Mehringer, Forest Park, 13.38 sec.), and the 800-meter run (Gretchen Farley, Park Tudor, 2:04.95).
Boys’ new records included the 3,200-meter relay (Bloomington North, 7:37.24),
Rastrelli’s impressive school-record run in a loaded 1600-meter field was good enough to outrun Ashley Erba’s previous Warsaw standard of 4:55.12 (2012). Her splits in 400-meter tranches ranged from 1:09.123 to 1:14.842, testimony to her smooth, steady running style.
The Tiger junior also finished eleventh in the 800-meter run (2:15.97) and joined teammates Ali Barkey, Madison Smalley, and Makayla Mimnaugh for a season-best 4:02.87 1,600-meter relay.
The four-lap relay, however, was uber-deep with the top twelve schools completing the event by breaking the four-minute barrier. The Tigers placed 19th.
Whitko’s Gwen Howard placed 6th in the shot put (43-11.75) to earn a spot on the podium, and added a 15th-place discus throw of 122’11” to her busy day in the field. The Wildcats’ Emerson Harper (twelfth-place, long jump, 17-08) was the team’s other state participant. Both athletes are sophomores.
Emma Yoder, a Wawasee sophomore who tossed the discus over 156 feet at regionals, also stood on the podium with a sixth-place finish (137-03).
Warsaw sophomore Camryn Burner (21st place, 100m dash, 12.56 sec.) and Elliana Transparent (15th place, pole vault, 10-06) rounded out the area girls’ participants’ results.
The girls’ track and field talent in the area is full of state-qualifying potential in the next few years.
The area boys’ athletes who participated in the state meet turned in solid performances, but did not earn spots on the podium steps.
Jordan Randall (Warsaw) and Kolby Haecker (Manchester), whose May 25 high jump duel resulted in respective heights of 6’9” and 6’8”, were among the second- and third-best heights in the state entering Friday’s competition.
Haecker finished the afternoon with a height of 6’4” while Randall finished clearing 6’2”. Incremental heights were in 2-inch tranches until athletes cleared 6’6”, where all heights thereafter were adjusted by one inch. Their regional heights would have placed them exactly where they were seeded – second and third – in Friday’s meet after pit activity was finished.
Morgan Johnson, a Warsaw senior competing in two events (1,600 meter relay, pole vault) joined teammates Jackson Winey, Emiliano Juarez-Torres, and Colton Martin (3:25.816) for a 19th place finish.
Johnson vaulted 14-feet ((12th place). Matt March cleared 13’6” for Warsaw.
Wade Jones (Tippecanoe valley, 200-meter dash) raced to a 23rd place finish (22.51 sec.) followed by Wawasee’s 26th-place finish by Lucas Linder (22.72 sec.)
The girls’ meet, held Saturday at the unpretentiously-named Indiana University Track and Field Facility, featured other area female athletes who scored and placed in the top eight positions.
The boys’ meet, held Friday, also featured area participants, but none were able to earn a spot on the platform.
Each meet’s field was competitive with some regionals advancing almost all their finishers in certain events to the state meet because of the 3 Participant Standard IHSAA rule, where a determined time, length, or height is set to qualify competitors.
This standard helps athletes who are cannibalized in deep, highly competitive regional fields - especially in the greater Indianapolis metropolitan area – from being left out of elite competition limited to the top three automatic qualifying positions.
The depth of competition resulted on a handful of new state meet records once the final starter’s pistol was fired Saturday.
Girls’ records were set in the pole vault (Kailee Swart, Cathedral, 13-06.2), the 110-meter hurdles (Rachel Mehringer, Forest Park, 13.38 sec.), and the 800-meter run (Gretchen Farley, Park Tudor, 2:04.95).
Boys’ new records included the 3,200-meter relay (Bloomington North, 7:37.24),
Rastrelli’s impressive school-record run in a loaded 1600-meter field was good enough to outrun Ashley Erba’s previous Warsaw standard of 4:55.12 (2012). Her splits in 400-meter tranches ranged from 1:09.123 to 1:14.842, testimony to her smooth, steady running style.
The Tiger junior also finished eleventh in the 800-meter run (2:15.97) and joined teammates Ali Barkey, Madison Smalley, and Makayla Mimnaugh for a season-best 4:02.87 1,600-meter relay.
The four-lap relay, however, was uber-deep with the top twelve schools completing the event by breaking the four-minute barrier. The Tigers placed 19th.
Whitko’s Gwen Howard placed 6th in the shot put (43-11.75) to earn a spot on the podium, and added a 15th-place discus throw of 122’11” to her busy day in the field. The Wildcats’ Emerson Harper (twelfth-place, long jump, 17-08) was the team’s other state participant. Both athletes are sophomores.
Emma Yoder, a Wawasee sophomore who tossed the discus over 156 feet at regionals, also stood on the podium with a sixth-place finish (137-03).
Warsaw sophomore Camryn Burner (21st place, 100m dash, 12.56 sec.) and Elliana Transparent (15th place, pole vault, 10-06) rounded out the area girls’ participants’ results.
The girls’ track and field talent in the area is full of state-qualifying potential in the next few years.
The area boys’ athletes who participated in the state meet turned in solid performances, but did not earn spots on the podium steps.
Jordan Randall (Warsaw) and Kolby Haecker (Manchester), whose May 25 high jump duel resulted in respective heights of 6’9” and 6’8”, were among the second- and third-best heights in the state entering Friday’s competition.
Haecker finished the afternoon with a height of 6’4” while Randall finished clearing 6’2”. Incremental heights were in 2-inch tranches until athletes cleared 6’6”, where all heights thereafter were adjusted by one inch. Their regional heights would have placed them exactly where they were seeded – second and third – in Friday’s meet after pit activity was finished.
Morgan Johnson, a Warsaw senior competing in two events (1,600 meter relay, pole vault) joined teammates Jackson Winey, Emiliano Juarez-Torres, and Colton Martin (3:25.816) for a 19th place finish.
Johnson vaulted 14-feet ((12th place). Matt March cleared 13’6” for Warsaw.
Wade Jones (Tippecanoe valley, 200-meter dash) raced to a 23rd place finish (22.51 sec.) followed by Wawasee’s 26th-place finish by Lucas Linder (22.72 sec.)
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